When the Moon Fell in Love with the Sun

When Carla left for the night after the graffiti dance, Brendon helped Katelyn put pictures up on the wall next to her bed. They had an interesting time taping up the photos and reminiscing about each picture.
The dance earlier had been a pretty interesting experience. People were everywhere, signing each other's shirts and sometimes introducing themselves. Katelyn had met a lot of kids and she barely remembered any of their names, but there was one guy that Brendon remembered quite well.
"I didn't like that Tanner dude dancing all up on you earlier..." The guy was practically trying to molest Katelyn through her clothes by the time Brendon really noticed; he had been busy signing shirts. No one knew that he wasn't a student during the whole orientation so far. He said he was a bio-chemistry major and people actually believed him.
"I know. He was a creep, huh?"
"I don't like the thought of guys like that being anywhere near you without me around..."
Katelyn pressed a picture of Brendon, the guys, and herself at graduation onto the wall, continuing the neat grid she had planned out and she sighed.
"There are creeps everywhere, Bren. You can't always be my knight... I have to take care of myself when you're not here." Brendon frowned, pulling Katelyn into a hug from behind and nestling his forehead against her neck.
"But you're my day..." Katelyn figured that he didn't realize she meant knight in shining armor, but she liked his analogy better.
"I love you way too much." She reached back and tangled her fingers in his hair, smiling contently as he said that he loved her more.

"I've never told you about this, but that guy reminded me of a kid from high school." Brendon pulled away and Katelyn turned around to face him.
"What do you mean? Who are you talking about?"
"There was this kid that bullied me for the longest time. He would always tease me and knock my lunch out of my hands and pin me in corners and beat me up." It seemed like it had taken a lot for him to tell her, so Katelyn looked at him sympathetically.
"I'm really sorry you had to go through that…" Katelyn had never been bullied like that and sure, she had been a bully herself, but she never physically hurt someone.
"Yeah… One day last year I just went up to him and knocked his huge tray of food out of his hands when he was talking to his friends. I was so sick of coming home with bruises so I just stood up for myself. Knowing you helped me do that."
"What?" She looked at him curiously. How had she helped him stand up for himself?
"You make me feel like less of a spaz. I don't really know how else to explain it, but I feel like this completely different person than who I used to be before I was assigned to sit next to you in physics." The way his eyes lit up when he spoke made Katelyn smile; it felt good to know that she had changed someone's life for the better.
The girl told him that she was glad she could help, and that she was thankful for having him around too because he gave her the courage to realize she was being used by her 'friends'.
"You're one of the greatest things that's ever happened to me."
Brendon smiled at Katelyn's admission, pulling her into a bear hug and saying that they should go to the beach.

Katelyn had a tough time dealing with herself after Brendon left for Summerlin a few days later. She kept telling herself that it was just like when he was recording, only this time she was the one that was away. Apparently Brendon was having issues with the separation too, because he called and texted the girl non-stop. They were supposed to see each other on Friday for the release of A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, but Katelyn had no idea how she was going to get to Los Angeles, which was an hour away from Irvine if the traffic wasn't too bad.
The girl was a French major, and she was taking seventeen credits worth of classes to add to the credits she had already accumulated in high school, so her school days were a little hectic to begin with, but she always made time to talk to Brendon. He wasn't demanding of her time because he knew that she was busy, and he knew that he could visit whenever he felt like it.

After Katelyn got out of her final class around two on Friday afternoon, she rushed to her room to get ready for the night ahead. Brendon was going to pick her up in Pete's rental car, then they were going to go to the party and stay the night in the hotel with the guys.
Carla was already gone for the weekend; Katelyn rarely saw her roommate on the weekends, but they had become pretty decent friends. Much to the girl's surprise, she had quickly found a small group of friends that she clicked with, so she didn't feel homesick very much.
Katelyn took some time to shower, get dressed, and do her hair. She had a nice, black cocktail dress that she had been waiting to wear out with Brendon, so she paired it with some flats because she hated wearing heels for extended periods of time. Katelyn decided to straighten her hair, something she rarely did, then she put on some makeup and packed an overnight bag for after the party.
'Dearly beloved, are you listening? I can't remember a word that you were saying…'
Her phone rang out the lyrics to Green Day's Jesus of Suburbia and the girl knew that Brendon was calling.
When she picked up, Brendon said that he was outside and that she could come down whenever she was ready. Katelyn grabbed her things, locked the door and went out to meet her boyfriend, unable to contain her excitement.
"Bren! You look so snazzy" Katelyn hugged him as soon as she saw the suit-clad boy and he hugged her back with the same enthusiasm.
"Hey Kate. You look pretty amazing yourself!" He quickly pecked her lips, taking her bag and putting it in the back seat of Pete's rental sedan.

It took nearly an hour and a half to get to the restaurant that the party was being held at because of traffic. The record company had rented out a private room at the swanky place and Katelyn was more than impressed by all the effort that had been put in to celebrate the boys' hard work.
Upon seeing Ryan and Spencer in their suits, Katelyn gave them enormous hugs. Brent was being standoffish, so the girl merely told him a quick hello before engaging Spencer in a conversation in French.
"Kate, slow down… You're going too fast!" Brendon had been standing next to the girl as she spoke to his band mate, holding her hand like she would disappear if he looked away for a split second. She looked at him quickly before saying that he didn't even know French. Brendon turned bright red, knowing that it was true.
"Bren's right. I'm a little rusty. I know you're like majoring in it and everything, but I haven't spoken it since I last saw you!" Spencer let out a laugh and Katelyn giggled, apologizing quietly before continuing their talk.

"I love it when you speak French…" Brendon whispered into the girl's ear later at the party just loudly enough so she could hear him, but no one else could. Music floated throughout the room as people chatted about Panic! At The Disco and their new record. Katelyn felt weird being at such an event knowing that she didn't fit in, but she wanted to support Brendon. Pete Wentz had introduced her to everyone as 'the girl who directed his attention to the band' and said that he would never second guess the internet again.
Brendon had her cornered in the large party room, out of view from most of the guests so that he could have a moment to talk to her in a hushed tone.
"You have no idea how beautiful you look right now. It's driving me crazy." The boy kissed her lips roughly, pulling back and running his fingers through her long hair.
"Brendon…" She placed a swift kiss against his neck, breathing in the scent of his cologne, and telling him this was neither the time nor the place. He looked down at her with puppy eyes and a pout, almost making her give in.
"Come on, Kate…"
"Later!" She finally worked up the nerve to push him back a little, frustrated with how he was teasing her. Sighing a little bit, Brendon ran a hand through his hair and let out a nervous laugh. Katelyn tugged gently on his skinny tie, bringing him in and giving him a light kiss before telling him that she promised they would have some time to themselves after the party.
Brendon went to talk to Ryan about something or another and Katelyn quickly found Spencer in the mass of people, apologizing to whoever he was talking to, and dragged him off towards the bathrooms.

"Katelyn, what's going on?" Spencer seemed a bit agitated, but when he saw the look on the girl's face, his gaze softened.
"Brendon wants to, uh, be intimate with me tonight. What am I supposed to do?" Katelyn had no idea who she should talk to about something like this. She and Spencer seemed to click when they were in French together, so she got to know him a lot better once she started hanging out with Brendon and his friends more often. She felt like she could talk to him about something like this because he knew Brendon amazingly well.
"Well it isn't like you haven't done it before." Brendon had told him that they had sex, but not much else. Sure, the guys were gossipy, but they weren't too detailed when it came to that kind of stuff.
"True… But that was at my house, and we didn't exactly talk about it before hand. He had me pinned in a corner a few minutes ago! Aren't you guys sharing a room or something at the hotel? Won't that be weird?" Katelyn stuck her tongue out and wrinkled her nose, making Spencer laugh and wrap one of his arms around her shoulders.
"Bro-code, my dear! We figured that Brenny would want some time alone with you, so we let him have a room all to himself for tonight. And don't worry, our room is way down the hall." Spencer winked, making Katelyn blush furiously. He definitely put her at ease though, and she gave him a quick hug before they walked back to join the party.
Brendon came out of nowhere, a flustered look on his face followed by nothing but relief.
"Where were you? I looked everywhere…" Brendon looked from Katelyn to Spencer, then back to Katelyn.
"I needed Spence's help with something. It's all good now." Katelyn took Brendon's hand and squeezed it gently, trying to reassure him, but for some reason he didn't buy it. He sent Spencer a nod, letting him know that he was free to go.
"What the hell is going on, Kate?" Brendon breathed quietly as soon as Spencer had walked off.
"Nothing! What's your deal? You're acting all… I don't know, possessive or something."
Before Katelyn even had the chance to continue, Brendon stormed off and left her to fend for herself at this release party.